(Distributed 10/31/13) CROWLEY, La. – The Louisiana Rice Research Board reviewed a number of proposals from LSU AgCenter scientists and agreed Tuesday to provide $1.29 million for next year’s projects to help Louisiana rice farmers.

(Distributed 10/31/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – A delegation of Chinese educators and researchers attended the signing of a Letter of Intent on Oct. 29 in Baton Rouge to collaborate with LSU and LSU AgCenter scientists.

(Distributed 10/31/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter is offering a prescribed burning workshop with burner certification at the LSU AgCenter Hammond Research Station Dec. 11-13.

(Distributed 10/31/13) CHASE, La. – Sweet potatoes are common on the Thanksgiving dinner table, but now this fall favorite is consumed year-round. Sweet potato farmers are busy getting this year’s crop out of the ground. LSU AgCenter sweet potato specialist Mavis Finger said the yield so far is average, and the quality is good.

(Distributed 10/31/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden has received a national award for the design of its All-America Selections Display Garden. This 50-foot-by-200-foot garden features flowers and vegetables recommended by All-America Selections, a nonprofit organization.

(Distributed 10/30/13) ALEXANDRIA, La. – Cattle producers, row crop farmers and timber owners earned certification credit at a two-day Master Farmer University course on the LSU campus in Alexandria on Oct. 24-25.

(Distributed 10/23/13) OAK GROVE, La. – Cars were lined up for a mile trying to get into the Family Fall Fest at the Thomas Jason Lingo Center on a sunny Saturday morning on Oct. 12, reported Brenda Bradley as she arrived. Bradley, a member of the town council here, was one of the planners for this event, which attracted more than 400 men, women and children of all shapes, ages and sizes from across West Carroll Parish.

(Distributed 10/30/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – On an average day, most people wouldn’t think of insects and soldiers as being synonymous, but a recent lecture on the LSU campus shows just how often insects have been used as weapons of war through the ages.

(Distributed 10/29/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – About 50 people wanting to improve their vegetable gardening skills participated in the New and Beginning Vegetable Farm Training at the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden on Oct. 23.

(Distributed 10/29/13) POLLOCK, La. – The final donation to build the multipurpose center at 4-H Camp Grant Walker was made by AT&T on Oct. 28, clearing the way for the possibility that the facility could be available for campers in 2014. Danny Wilson, of AT&T, delivered a check for $30,000 to Bill Richardson, LSU vice president for agriculture. Two previous donations by AT&T during the past two years totaled $50,000.

(Distributed 10/28/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – LSU’s football team was not the only winner on campus during the 2013 homecoming festivities. The College of Agriculture presented three awards at the annual alumni tailgate party on Oct. 26.

(Distributed 10/18/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – James L. Griffin, the Lee F. Mason LSU Alumni Association Professor in the School of Plant, Environmental and Soil Sciences, has been named graduate student recruiter in the LSU College of Agriculture.

(Distributed 10/25/13) An exceptional, blue-flowered, cool-season bedding plant called Diamonds Blue delphinium (Delphinium chinensis Diamonds Blue) is a Louisiana Super Plants selection for fall 2013.

(Distributed 10/25/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – Eric Webster, an F. Avalon Daggett Professor in the LSU AgCenter School of Plant, Environmental and Soil Sciences, has been named to the position of assistant regional director in the AgCenter’s Southwest Region.

(Distributed 10/25/13) HAMMOND, La. – Many home gardeners know the tall, cut-flower-type delphiniums. These are excellent plants for the cool-season landscape in Louisiana.

(Distributed 10/25/13) THORNWELL, La. – The No. 2 official with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency assured farmers Thursday (Oct. 24) that he will make sure the agency is moving forward with its review of a blackbird repellent used to protect rice seed.

(Distributed 10/23/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – LSU AgCenter research being conducted shows that farmers who grow multiple crops may benefit from applying some nutrients during fall if soil tests are completed first.

(Distributed 10/22/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter recommends planting broccoli in fall vegetable gardens, and October is a perfect month for planting transplants or small seedlings.

(Distributed 10/21/13) WINNSBORO, La. – A complex set of federal food safety regulations will affect many producers of agricultural products and require more record keeping, an LSU AgCenter specialist told fruit and vegetable growers at the Northeast Louisiana Fruit and Vegetable Growers Conference here on Oct. 17.

The Southern sugar maple is a great deciduous tree for fall foliage color in Louisiana.

(Distributed 10/17/13) HAMMOND, La. – The ideal planting time for cool-season bedding plants in Louisiana runs from late September through early December. Some of our common cool-season flowers prefer the earlier planting dates while others prefer the later dates.

(Distributed 10/07/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU Food Incubator has received a $20,500 grant from the Louisiana Economic Development Business Incubator Support Program.

(Distributed 10/16/13) HAMMOND, La. – The latest research findings from ongoing studies, information about new pests and tours of the gardens at the Hammond Research Station highlighted a field day held on Oct. 10.

(Distributed 10/15/13) WINNSBORO, La. – As cotton harvest in Louisiana comes to an end, farmers are seeing record high yields, although the cotton acreage is at a record low, according to David Kerns, LSU AgCenter cotton specialist.

(Distributed 10/14/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – It may be a bit of culture shock for the LSU AgCenter’s new extension plant pathologist, but she is excited about the opportunity to provide horticultural information to citizens across the state.

(Distributed 10/11/13) Louisiana gardeners are always looking for nice trees for the landscape. The sweet bay magnolia (Magnolia virginiana) is an excellent native tree that is not nearly as well known as it should be.

(Distributed 10/11/13) WINNFIELD, La. – An 11-year-old 4-H Club member in Winn Parish has won a national award from the American Heart Association for her service-learning project that involved her entire school in a healthful living program.

(Distributed 10/11/13) HAMMOND, La. – The LSU AgCenter is increasing work at the Hammond Research Station to select and breed new ornamental plants for the state’s growing nursery and landscape industry.

(Distributed 10/11/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU chapter of the national society of MANRRS held its kickoff meeting in the LSU Student Union on Oct. 2 to let students know that the chapter is back and ready to regain its name recognition.

(Distributed 10/09/13) GRAMERCY, La. – Students in St. James Parish now have a new kitchen to prepare vegetables they grow on Fast Food Farm, thanks to a $90,000 grant from the Mosaic Company.

(Distributed 10/07/13) OPELOUSAS, La. – An LSU AgCenter cattle researcher told producers the use of ultrasound technology to get a glimpse of an animal’s beef quality removes the mystery out of buying cattle and can result in better prices at the sale barn.

(Distributed 10/07/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter LaHouse Home and Landscape Resource Center will host its seasonal Saturday open house on Oct. 19 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

(Distributed 10/07/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter’s 2014 Get It Growing Calendar is now available.

(Distributed 10/07/13) The first Louisiana Super Plants from the LSU AgCenter for fall 2013 is the Drift series of roses.

(Distributed 10/04/13) HAMMOND, La. – Fall is the best time of the year to garden in Louisiana, and it’s a great time to consider trees. Landscapes typically have trees as one of the dominant features.

(Distributed 10/03/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – For the past 46 years, LSU College of Agriculture Dean Ken Koonce has been associated with the university system. On Oct. 7, he will retire and open the next chapter of his life.

(Distributed 10/02/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – PotashCorp, of Geismer, La., recently donated $25,000 to the LSU AgCenter’s youth livestock development program.

(Distributed 10/01/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – A new invasive scale insect has been infesting crape myrtles in Shreveport and Dallas and possibly in Houma and Lafayette.

(Distributed 10/02/13) GONZALES, La. – Since 2007, Master Gardeners in Ascension Parish have been taking on projects to beautify the parish and provide information to get others involved in gardening and landscape improvement.

(Distributed 10/01/13) ALEXANDRIA, La. – The Louisiana Master Farmer program will offer a two-day workshop – called Master Farmer University – at LSU in Alexandria on Oct. 24-25, in which participants will be able to complete the first two of three phases of the program.

(Distributed 10/01/13) BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter’s LaHouse Resource Center will conduct a mold control and remediation training course Oct. 22-24.